The New York Stock Exchange teases plan to launch cryptocurrency trading

Wall Street’s interest in integrating cryptocurrencies with their business seems to be on the rise.

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) – the parent company of the world’s largest stock exchange desk, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) – is working on a Bitcoin exchange for large investors, The New York Times reports .

ICE is also reportedly planning to set up swap contracts with other financial institutions, which will allow customers to own Bitcoin without an immediate trade with the backing and security of the exchange.

The move follows an earlier interest in cryptocurrency trading by Nasdaq and Goldman Sachs.

Back In April, Nasdaq’s CEO Adena Friedman stated that the stock exchange is open to the idea of becoming a cryptocurrency exchange in the future, but only if the space matures and becomes better regulated.

Last week, Goldman Sachs also made public its intention to begin using its own money to trade with clients in a variety of contracts linked to the price of Bitcoin, such as futures contract .

It is worth noting that both Nasdaq and Goldman Sachs are yet to follow up on their cryptocurrency trading ambitions – beyond simply entertaining the option, that is.

With this in mind, it will be interesting to see how the plans of the ICE play out.

Still, NYT suggests that ICE’s foray into cryptocurrency is far from a done deal — the project could still fall apart if hesitations over regulations arise.

The reputation of NYSE could lend some credibility to Bitcoin trading and attract traditional stock traders, who tend to shy away from unregulated markets and services.

Ethereum price takes a knock ahead of rumored US regulators meeting

The price of Ethereum has registered a five-percent drop in price over the past day – and the most likely reason is the rumored meeting where US regulators are scheduled to discuss the most appropriate way to classify the cryptocurrency.

Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that officials from the Commodities Futures Trade Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will convene to debate whether certain cryptocurrencies should be regulated as securities.

The meeting, which will purportedly take place today on May 7, has become a hot topic among the cryptocurrency community – especially because crypto-traders speculate it could have a serious impact on their investments.

One thing to keep in mind is that deeming Ethereum a security will have massive implications for many other blockchain-based tokens and cryptocurrency startups – especially those based on the ERC20 standard.

For one, exchange desks will have to register with the SEC or risk massive fines, Quartz explains. The publication further notes that dropping Ethereum from their trading platforms will also likely put a big dent in the price of the cryptocurrency.

Former CFTC chairman Gary Gensler previously hinted that unlike Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash, cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Ripple share some characteristics with securities.

Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin subsequently expressed confidence that “the regulators that matter understand what Ethereum is” in an interview with The Street. He further added he is “ extremely comfortable that [the cryptocurrency] is not a security” and never was one.

It is worth pointing out that, while a five-percent increase in price would have been a pretty significant development in any other industry, such swings are nothing uncommon in the cryptocurrency market. Indeed, at this stage it is fair to say that high volatility is the rule – and not the exception – in the world of crypto.

Hackers breached BeeToken’s email list and stole $1M worth of Ethereum

It appears cryptocurrency startup BeeToken, which promised to disrupt the home sharing industry by putting its service on the blockchain, has been hacked. The attackers are actively targeting its initial coin offering (ICO) with phishing attacks and have already duped gullible investors for over $1 million worth of Ethereum.

The company has confirmed the phishing attacks on its official Twitter and Medium accounts, warning that users should treat emails and Telegram messages directly encouraging users to send funds are likely fraudulent.

“ Please note that we will NEVER EVER communicate an Ethereum address through an email or Direct Message to you via Telegram,” the company noted.

There appear to be several different versions of the deceptive emails circulating the web. Some emails are also promoting a non-existent partnership with Microsoft.

Users have since shared screenshots of the phishing messages:

While it has been cut from the screenshot above, the email further included a fraudulent Ethereum address and a dedicated QR code leading to the same address.

What makes things especially confusing for rookie investors is that the attackers coordinated their phishing emails along with the official launch of the BeeToken ICO.

In fact, it appears the attackers have been able to raise almost half as much funds as the real thing. A counter on the BeeToken site shows that the website has so far raised more than $2.3 million. By comparison, three of the numerous fraudulent addresses associated with the phishing attack have collectively attracted nearly $1 million.

It remains unclear what the precise source of the breach is, but users have taken to Reddit suggesting that BeeToken failed to properly protect its customers data. According to affected users, the hackers were targeting individuals who signed up for the BeeToken newsletter and its KYC process for the ICO.

We have reached out to the company for a clarification and will update this post accordingly should we hear back.

In an email conversation with TNW last week, BeeToken CEO Jonathan Chou told us that the company does not “store customers’ data in a centralized database like Airbnb.”

“We are not at risk of exposing all of our customers’ data in one go if there is a security breach,” he added. Things do not seem that way now, at least when it comes to their email system.

The breach is pretty unfortunate – especially for the numerous duped investors who were promised a safer service on the blockchain. Since BeeToken exists on the Ethereum blockchain, users have no recourse to claim their Ether back. This conundrum is something decentralized systems will be facing even more in the near future, especially now that the technology is finally taking off in the mainstream.

But given the massive hype around cryptocurrency and blockchain, the worst part is that we are likely to see this scenario unfold again… sooner or later.

One thing must be said though: BeeToken and its aspirations to disrupt the home sharing industry are a cautionary tale that blockchain is hardly a magical fix for everything.